Just thought I would start a discussion on why English football is a global phenomenon and why American football is pretty much dead outside the USA. Any decent reason behind NFL Europe's failure? etc etc.

...watch the SUperbowl because of the whole event, not because they like American 'Football'.

IMO, the biggest issue is the name FOOTBALL. It was already in use and we kinda stole it for lack of a better term. That caused a rivalry. A kind of us vs. them style of thinking. If the game was called something different all together my bet is that it would be more accepted. People feel like they have to like one or the other and can't like both games (styles) if they are to be considered real football fans; they feel it makes them less of a fan or whatever to accept American Football (NFL) as a legitimate sport.

Ask most athletes who participate in either sport and they’d tell you it is a completely different game, they have respect for the other side, and they generally don’t have the skill to play the other game. Plain and simple, they are two different games that share a similar name. Other then the name there is no real comparison.

Anyway, I love both games. Soccer is amazing to watch (I'd kill myself trying to play), I never really appreciated it until my niece started playing when she was little, and she is now 16 and in the ODL and is a MONSTER!

American Football is just so much more exciting to watch, IMO. I dont like sports like Soccer where 2-0 is a blowout. That's the same reason why I don't like Hockey. Baseball isnt as bad, but is still boring, but I switch from liking it to hating it quite often, lol.

Both sports take a hell of a lot of skill to play, that's for sure. I, like most Americans, prefer our form a hell of a lot more. Why the rest of the world doesnt want to adopt it is beyond me. I think they just hate "us"

I think the main issue for NFL's failure in Europe IS due to a lack of interest. This isn't because of Rugby, or the name Football. IMHO it is because US Football (like that other poorly exported US Sport Baseball, Rounder anyone j/k !) has so many abbreviations and is so stat heavy that the average armchair sports fan outside of America is like "Fuck that, I'm gonna watch the Footie/Rugby etc." because it is more accessible.
The basic premise of US Football (and sorry for being so crude here) is quite easy - you have 4 attempts to gain x yards with the overall aim being to put the ball down in the opposition end. Simple, it's all the other bollocks that bamboozles Europeans as we haven't been around it since year dot, hence why the vast majority of us can't be arsed to have anything to do with it.

Football? Hell, all we have to do is explain the offside rule and you know the most complex part of OUR very simple game, oh and the fact that there are more teams in England than Manchester United and Chelsea. (Christ, the amount of people on Live whom ask if I support Man U just cos I'm a Brit - thought it would be easier just to have it as my gamerpic - sorry Webb!)

You guys make some good points. And I have to agree with legendkiller. I never really thought of American Football as being difficult to understand but I did run into an experience about two weeks ago where I was trying to explain it to someone. I guess growing up with it all my life you just learn the rules but even us die hards have problems keeping up. There are so many different positions too. And then you have offense/defense/special teams taking turns on the field unlike most sports where they are either the same people or at the very least on the field at the same time.

But hey, basketball has certainly become popular in Europe and while Europeans might not like baseball Central American countries and the Japanese love it. Both of those games are way less complicated. So I agree, there is definitely a barrier to entry with American football and that probably makes it more trouble than it's worth.

Edit: Oh yeah, and baseball is simple, the reason there are so many stats is because baseball is so damn boring the fans have to find something to do. No, I'm not a baseball fan

thought it would be easier just to have it as my gamerpic - sorry Webb!)

You will be

To be honest, I enjoy watching all American sports except Basketball *shudders*

But, there will never be a better sport than football IMO, the one with the round ball American football is good and all, bih hits, complex plays, makes very entertaining viewing...

But what the Brazilians can do with their feet is just pure skill that only a small amount of people can emulate. That is the beauty

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Personally, I don't find American football barely entertaining. To me it seems too slow. The minute the ball carrier 2 knee's hit the ground, the game has to stop. I just get bored at that very quickly. I do understand people liking a certain sport because they more or less bred into the game by their family. Maybe I only like fast sports like my own Irish one called "hurling" which is the fastest field game in the world by the way

My vote goes to football, the one where you actually have to use your foot for most of the game...

I think the main reason American Football isnt appreciated overhere is the speed of the game. We dont want to bring football playback in for decision making as it will slow football down. That would be 2 mins once a game maybe, if that.

However, American Football is play for 10 seconds, have a 30 second think, come back and play for 10 secs etc etc. We like fast paced sports- thats why Basketball is popular in Europe as well.

And AF is similar to Rugby (just with padding), and rugby is huge throughout Europe- more popular than football in some places. People just wouldnt want to watch AF- which is basically Rugby League anyway.

They do play it in the States, They play it Boston and New York and pretty much anywhere else where Irish people moved after the famine.

The game is like ice hockey without the ice where your allowed hit a very heavy leather tennis-sized ball into the air with a big stick.

Nice man i didnt know that. Boston is one of the citys i would love to move to. Love the Redsox, but its so expensive there. Supposed to be meeting up with Wreckon Dracgon sometime for a baseball game! can't wait

But what the Brazilians can do with their feet is just pure skill that only a small amount of people can emulate. That is the beauty

Have you been watching some kind of snaggy Brazilian foot fetish porn

Would love to challenge you to a "Loser Has To Adopt Adversaries Gamerpic" match of Pro Evo - but I wont, as you'd kick my ass!

Oh and Import - I thought the US would have been world masters at hurling - I've seen some of those spring break vids ! LOL
Seriously though, not surprised Hurling would be fastest field game - that shit is nuts...

nah its not that dangerous, you can wear a helmet, only problem that a lot of my friends have broken wrists due to mishits from the opposition their playing against by missing the ball and getting their hands instead, you can wear this special glove for protection, but most people think their for bitches

Football: develop a play on the fly, try to make it work, maybe score, repeat when ball is in possession again.
American Football: call a play before execution, try to make it work, maybe score, repeat when ball is in possession again.

This is like comparing apples to oranges. they both have fields, they both have balls. but that is about all.

football is a beautiful thing to view--when done correctly and professionally. otherwise it can also be very ugly and boring.
american football is an exciting, more physical thing to view--every single play ends in hard contact/tackling.

if you enjoy the development of plays and passing and dribbling, and working more as a team to achieve a hard goal...and a game where a goal actually means a lot due to the amount of effort and precision needed to achieve it, then watch football.

if you enjoy big physical hits and a lot more scoring...where a score is not all that important, but watching the celebration afterwards can be...then watch american football.

i am an american football fan for life, but i also enjoy football. i never watch it though, because it is not at the same professional level (over here in the u.s.) as our other sports. the football players here are not the football players of england. whereas, the european american-style football players there are not as good as the ones over here. european NFL is like the b-quad...the place to drop the guys who just are not good enough for the real NFL. and THAT is the MAIN DIFFERENCE between why they are popular where they are, and not in the other place...

American Football is just so much more exciting to watch, IMO. I dont like sports like Soccer where 2-0 is a blowout. That's the same reason why I don't like Hockey. Baseball isnt as bad, but is still boring, but I switch from liking it to hating it quite often, lol.

Both sports take a hell of a lot of skill to play, that's for sure. I, like most Americans, prefer our form a hell of a lot more. Why the rest of the world doesnt want to adopt it is beyond me. I think they just hate "us"

Hockey isn't even like that anymore with the new rules. It's just a scoring fiesta now and days.

But anyways, why don't europeans accept Football. Well because they have their own sports over there. That's like saying why isn't Cricket huge in North American? It's just different styles. North Americans and Europeans live totally different lives. I've lived in both places and if you've lived the life of both of them, it's just obvious.